The Promise
by AnnaAza
Summary: Katara never expected things to end up like this. She never realized that her best friend had turned sour and bitter and wrong, like a parasite gnawing hungrily at a moonpeach. Twoshot. For mature audiences only.
1. Chapter 1

_New Years Resolution: Write more, post more. _

_I got my (legal) copy of _The Promise, Part 1, _which is unbearingly too short, but leaves you with a nasty cliffhanger. Anyways, I'm sure you've seen/heard of all the leaks, and this was written in 2011, back in November when LOADS of leaks were happening to _The Promise. _Despite all the leaks, please support everyone who works on the books and the wonderful series by buying the book._

_Now that my advertisement is over, you SHOULD NOT READ FURTHER if you are seriously opposed to rape. In this massive AU that bathed in arsenic, Zuko is forever bad. Katara goes by herself to talk things out with hiim. This two-shot has some MAJOR OCC moments for both, since this is supposed to be like _The Promise _gone through hell. Yes, I know Zuko would never do such a horrible thing, but the guy has gone off the deep end from many assassination attempts, bad advice from Ozai, and numerous rebellions and such. At least in this. _

_ONCE AGAIN, DO NOT PROCEED. GRAPHIC. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED._

**THE PROMISE**

The Waterbender squared her shoulders and checked her water skin. It felt heavy with anticipation. This wasn't normal. It almost seemed like a lifetime ago, when she would have confidently strolled into Zuko's palace and smiled at the guards who were happy to open the doors for her. But she saw the guards with no masks glaring at her and tightening their fists on their weapons. She saw that the palace seemed as if a shadow was thrown over it.

What happened to him? Why did he overturn the harmony restoration act? Why was he hiding himself from the world?

She bowed slightly to the guards. "I wish to have an audience with the Fire Lord."

"Do you have an appointment?"

Katara cringed. An appointment?

"Erm, no. But I hoped that Z—the Fire Lord would see his old friend. Are you telling me no?"

"Well, I—" The leader, Katara suspected, adjusted his armor. "I will go check with His Majesty."

"Please do. Just tell him Master Katara, the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, and the Waterbending teacher of Avatar Aang, wishes to see the Fire Lord for a serious discussion."

She disliked using her titles, but Mai, while preparing the Gaang for palace and court life, had scoffed at that: "Honestly, if no one reminded everyone of their titles, it would be chaotic. No one would get their work done. No one would listen to you, here, without you stating that you—well. As an esteemed noblewoman of a former governor, I say that if you have political titles and connections, use them."

The guard curtly nodded and went into the palace. Katara wiped her palms on her skirt, watching as the guards trained their eyes directly on her. It was twenty minutes before the guard came back. By then Katara was scorching under the blistering sun, and so was her mood.

"Well?"

"The Fire Lord will see you for a few minutes in the throne room. He seems to be impatient, so make it quick." Katara nodded curtly and walked past the opened gates, carefully patting her water skin.

She knew the way to the throne room by heart. They had spent a year and a few weeks going over countless bills and meetings. She had to make a quick study of Fire Narion politics, and even Mai had (grudgingly) admitted that Katara had a good head for politics. Mai herself was exiting the room, and when she saw Katara, her face darkened.

"Mai?" Mai hadn't answered her hawks either. Katara had surprised herself when she and Mai became friends. They usually corresponded over diplomatic issues, but still chatted about Zuko or ridiculous palace gossip. Katara briefly wondered if Zuko forbade messenger hawks for her and the Gaang.

"Katara, listen. Zuko...isn't himself. He hasn't been sleeping or eating. The Kyoshi Warriors report that he wakes up in the middle of the night and has paranoia of assassinations. He's already had nineteen attempts, and there have been over...a lot of death threats and such. Just don't be surprised at him, okay?"

"Thank you for the warning."

"You're welcome. Just don't stay too long; he starts getting irritable the longer people are with him." She quickly walked away, but Katara called after her.

"Wait, what's wrong with your cheek?"

Mai's features were already sliding into her impassive mask. "Just a bruise. Clumsy me, I hit myself with the door...a few minutes ago."

"Oh." Katara sensed that there was more, but decided not to push it. "What me to heal it?"

"It's just a bruise; powder will cover that. But thanks." Mai bowed at Katara, who bowed back as Mai hastily made her way down the corridor.

Katara slowly walked into the dark room with the shadows of the Dragon Throne's fires. His form was obscured by the flames, and she noticed briefly that his hair was longer.

"Zuko," she said as she approached him. "There's something—"

"It is customary for a person to bow before the Fire Lord and respectful to use his title."

"I would think that one of the Fire Lord's dearest friends would be spared from kowtowing and calling him Fire Lord."

"If you came here to waste my time with trivia, you may leave."

"I did not come here to be turned away." Katara answered sharply. "What you did lately...is not what we promised before Sozin's Comet. Why did you overturn that law? Why did you yank my arms out of my sockets to restrain me when your guards were attacking Aang and me? Why did you attack Aang, too? Why haven't you answered our letters? Why do you not let peasants come to talk to you? Why do I hear frightful stories of you, even among your citizens? And why is your palace guarded heavily and blocked against even me?"

"You haven't changed a bit, Katara." Katara glared at the hiss when her name was said.

"I can't say the same for you. And why can't you talk to me face to face like we used to?"

"I am—"

"The Fire Lord, I know. We saw your hoo-hah of the coronation. You know, when you promised to have an era of love and peace? Where the hell is that?"

"I am not restarting the war."

"You are throwing away our hard work for nothing! You nixed a law that would benefit hundreds of Earth Kingdom citizens! They don't want to live in fear with the Fire Nation living next door to them! They want their land, their home back!"

"Have you considered that the Fire Nation people living there have homes too? And we will be taking those away?"

"Aang and you spent weeks trying to get the law perfect! We told the Fire Nation colonies that Fire Nation citizens willing to live in peace with them could stay! We even considered building a city for all—"

"I will not have you disrespecting me!" Zuko himself practically threw the fires away from the steps, stomping down them. He grabbed her chin before she could move, then restrained her arm when it rested on her pouch.

"Zuko, let go!" He wasn't listening, just like the last time. His hands were heating up, too, and she briefly wondered what would have happened last time if Aang hadn't blasted him away. He wouldn't...hurt her. He wouldn't!

"Listen to me. You don't know what it's like. The damn Fire Nation gave me the throne and said, 'Rule this bankrupt, warring country perfectly.' I can't be perfect. I can't satisfy anyone. Not the peasants. Not the officials. Not even you, apparently. I have had threats on my life. I jump at the shadows and ask the food testers to taste twice. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I have had advice from someone who knows this country, and I think I'm doing well."

"Don't make me laugh, Fire Lord. Who is your advisor?" Katara cringed as both of her wrists were locked in. The hand on her chin moved to mockingly caress her cheek.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Stay out of this."

"I will not!" Tears choked her as she remembered Aang's upset face about his promise to Zuko. A promise she would say had to be done later if she was with her friends. But her hands trembled at the thought of Zuko perishing by Aang's hands. A promise to end him if he became like Ozai. "I won't if you keep on doing this! Aang will have no choice to keep the promise he made to you years ago!"

His grip drew tighter. "Do you honestly believe he will?"

"What?" She whispered, startled.

"He couldn't kill Ozai, even to fully end this. He's alive, and this is causing me so many problems. The rebels use him as a rallying symbol. He cannot, do you think, kill his best friend and Firebending teacher?"

"Then I will."

This was a mistake. She didn't feel Zuko throw her; she just felt herself fly and crash into a wall. Battle instincts kicked in, and she rolled to avoid an anticipated fire blast. Leaping to her feet, she almost regretted it when she almost swooned, but her heart raced. Zuko had a whole wall of flames even if at the off chance he couldn't summon flames from the air. All she had was one water skin. She had hoped it wouldn't turn out like this. Katara threw up a shield as water after Zuko formed a mighty blast and punched it towards her. Rolling and ducking without using water and pulling up the steam to turn it into water was exhausting, but he certainly wasn't calling a truce.

She fell to the ground, gasping as Zuko loomed over her to pin down her hands with his boots. Katara drew in a sharp breath in pain. He had gotten much stronger in the years she hadn't seen him.

"You wouldn't. You wouldn't hurt me!" She hissed.

"I don't know." He was bending down, arms reaching out. She struggled as his hands yanked up her head up by the hair.

"No!" Katara screamed. Zuko flinched and pulled her hair more in surprise. "No," she said more calmly. "You promised us when you joined us. You said exactly 'I won't let you down. I promise.' You are letting us down. We worked together to end this war. You can't throw it away. You can't break a promise. It's not honorable. You know it isn't!" Before her thoughts caught up to her words, she blurted out, "What would your uncle say?"

Zuko abruptly let go of her and stepped off her hands. She sprang to her feet, preparing to leave, but he grabbed her again by the shoulder. Before she knew it, she placed an icicle at his neck. He froze.

"Don't. Don't do this." Katara whispered, the damned tears falling. You promised me after Yon Rha that you won't hurt me. You broke that twice. I know you believe in force to solve things. But this isn't to take down an enemy. This is hatred, anger. And I will not let my friend be pulled into this!" The icicle moved closer to cut his throat, and she closed her eyes. "You keep breaking your promises. I will fulfill Aang's promise if he cannot do it. But I don't...I can't. Please. You're better than this. You're better. Please, Zuko." Zuko tensed more, even as Katara loosened her hold on the icicle. "You said you went through hell and back. You're doing it again. Please. Don't go...where we can't follow."

"What will you do if you kill me?" Zuko's voice was hard and cold. "What will you do if you slice my throat? What will happen to you?"

"I couldn't kill Yon Rha. But—" Katara lowered her head. "if I did...end you, I have no desire to feel satisfied. I care for you. I'd carry all that guilt with me forever, so much that it might consume me." More tears followed. "Zuko, please. Please get on the path again."

The icicle suddenly melted in her hands, and she shrieked as Zuko thrust her face first into his armored chest.

"Pretty speech, Katara. But...there is one flaw to it." He roughly forced her to lift her chin and pressed his mouth against hers. She struggled and tried to bite him, but he easily restrained her, shoving his tongue into her mouth.

"No!" She whispered. "You're with Mai. I'm with Aang. You can't—"

"Oh, I can." Zuko's breath was hot on her face as he murmured against her lips. "Liar." His hand squeezed her tightly, and she tried to kick him to no avail. His armor made sure of that. He unyieldingly forced a sleeve off her shoulder and practically tore it from her body.

"I saw the look in your eyes when you came here and before. I know your deepest feelings in your heart." He ran his hand to pat her chest almost mockingly. "You desire me, Katara. And I admit that you have...grown well."

Katara screamed all the more when he unbuckled the water skin at her waist and tossed it into the flames of the wall. He grabbed her hair again as his hands pawed at her, removing her dress and undershirt.

"Get off of me! Guards, help me! Please!—"

A cuff to her cheek silenced her.

"Psh. The guards will not come. They only respond to me. Face it, Katara, they are not coming."

She gagged as he kissed her again. Her jaw felt heavily bruised, but not broken. Tears prickled at her eyes when her best friend roamed her body as if plundering a village.

"Zuko, no...promise..." Katara choked out. "Please."

"I have changed from the weak little boy I was. Promises are never made to be kept. Promises are for fools."

"That's wrong! Promises are honorable! Promises—" He roughly yanked at her boots and socks with difficulty, as she was kicking and punching at him.

"Mean nothing to me now. Now shut up. You're giving me a migraine."

"You bastard!" Her cheek was smacked, and he leaned in. Wine smelled horribly tainted on his breath; she shoved his face away.

"You have been drinking again." she stated with horror. "Didn't I tell you that it will cause damage to your—"

"I have the right to drink anything I want. You will learn to hold your tongue in the presence of the Fire Lord."

Was he drunk? Was this why? No. He wasn't slurring his words, nor didn't seem to have any problem with seeing. Zuko was in control, and that's what scared her. He was doing this of his own free will. A functional drunk, that's what Yugoda would have said.

His face was bleeding as she clawed at him, shouting for the guards. None came, despite her fervent prayers to the Moon and Ocean Spirits and even Agni, and she tried to knee him in the groin as he forced her to the ground. He only laughed at her attempt and sat on her legs and stomach as he removed his robes and armor.

"Mai! Mai!" Her last hope. She might be too far away by now, but she would listen if Katara called for help. Mai was skilled with knives, and if she could have thought she could have at least held off Azula at the Boiling Rock, she should be able to distract Zuko enough for her to run.

Mai did not come. Zuko let her yell more, but smirked when her calls went unanswered.

"Get away from me!" she pushed helplessly at the air, startled to feel his blood moving inside of his body. Zuko halted his actions, and Katara focused her grip on his throat. She had never Bloodbended after the Southern Raiders, especially not in daylight, but desperate times called for desperate measures. His hold loosened, and she managed to roll away and get up before her concentration snapped. He tackled her, and her efforts were less focused, but she managed to pinpoint his heart.

"Stop! Stop or I'll—" She gasped in pain as Zuko burned her wrist. Katara tried to repossess at least one part of his body with her uninjured one, but the pain made her slow and panicked. A snap registered in her mind, and she shrieked in wordless cries.

"You care for me, little girl." He reached her waistband and flames licked her pants. She thrashed around, but they were ash now. Zuko almost delicately tugged at at lower wrappings, and she blushed and shouted angrily, tearfully.

His hand was now rough, plucking and stroking. She squirmed, but he had her, and she knew it. Katara turned her face away as only vague feelings registered. She was in shock, she reminded herself like the healer she was. Zuko was now tugging off his pants, and she closed her eyes. This wasn't happening. This isn't happening. This is a nightmare. Please, Katara, wake up! She tried to will herself out of this horrible dream, but she couldn't. It was so real. So real.

Flashes of pain hit her as he shoved in, pounding her like a mortar. She heard herself wailing and whimpering as he took her. Grunts were heard from Zuko, and she almost cried out in fear when she saw that the normally calm amber eyes were dark with madness and lust. Her chest ached with tight pain, her eyes poured out tears, her mouth screamed rawly for help that would never come.

He finally stopped and redressed, leaving her shaking with sweat and blood on the floor. Katara clutched at herself. She wasn't...she hadn't. Millions of thoughts bumped into each other. Her hair was stuck to her face and head. Her thighs were sore and wet with blood. She needed to call for Aang later. Why had he done that? Zuko had...

Zuko almost gently placed a foot on her neck. "Get dressed."

Katara forced herself not to sob more in fear of suffocation. She gathered her torn dress and underthings, clumsily fixing that was left of them on her form. It was difficult to breathe. She lay there when she was done, staring dully at the ceiling. He tugged her up, seeming pleased at her tearful face.

"Leave me, Katara, but please, come again." He kissed her again, and she weakly fell against him. Zuko chuckled darkly, placing the girl behind his throne, a place for the Fire Lady.

"Rest," he commanded, and Katara gratefully succumbed to darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**THE PROMISE, PART TWO**

Katara threw up.

Her psychologist that she had hired told her to calm down, to break the bad situation into simpler terms. She might be able to figure it out that way.

She began to meditate. _My name is Katara. I am a Waterbender. I'm the betrothed to Zuko. Mai offered to make a poison to expell the baby so that proclamation can be revoked. There's a law that a pregnant woman without a husband must marry the man who...took her. But I can't. It's my baby. It's living. Sokka and Aang are so mad at Zuko. Toph is marrying someone from her Metalbending school. I want to marry Aang. Not Zuko._

Zuko claimed he was merciful. He was in his rights to make her a simple concubine. Mai seemed almost glad that she was away from Zuko, but she gave her a knife and a vial of poison in case. She had hid it in her room in a robe pocket.

Why? She had to explain why her belly was swelling up months after Zuko had forced her. She didn't say the dreaded word, but Sokka read it in her eyes and beat up many of Zuko's guards to get to Zuko. The nation was getting worse. Her marriage to Zuko would soften the rebellion, make a so-called alliance and safety net. That was the reason for what the Fire Lord was telling the people. No need for the world to know the dirty little secret.

* * *

><p>Roses and beautiful flowers were pinned in her hair now. She was Fire Lady. She had a right to help overturn laws, but since she had spoke out many times against Zuko, he had banned her from the meetings. She nursed her son, the one that had disappointed Zuko. He wanted a Firebender. She prayed for a Waterbender and got one. She wished she hadn't, though.<p>

Her son was her rock. He was perfect. She had tried to harden her heart against this child, but when Zuko had proclaimed that he would be the heir as the firstborn, she reluctantly stayed to care for him. Over time, she brushed back his curly hair and kissed his cheeks not for show, but for love.

Katara sang Water Tribe songs until they were forbidden. She told him Water Tribe tales until the storybooks were burned, and her throat was threatened to be seared. She never left him until Zuko jealously forbade her from seeing him during the day when she was supposed to be working. She was a ghost. A ghost that wandered the halls and rocked her child. Arms that were bruised, hair chopped off so it will not be used as a restraint, eyes dull with unhappiness, voice rough from disuse, stomach constantly bulging with another child because Zuko didn't hit her when his heirs were in her belly...

She frequently thought how easy it would be to duck her head in the bathwater and never pull it out. She thought it would be easy to tear the strips from her gown and jump when she was alone at night because Zuko was out tupping some noblewoman. She thought it would be easy to drink Mai's poison. She thought it would be easy to push Zuko too far and for her to be consumed in flames. She thought it would be easy to sneak out to get caught in the crossfire of rebellions.

She had her child to think about. Her children, now. They were so young, untainted by their father. Perhaps she could do what Gran Gran once told her. Kill the hatred with kindness. Raise them to be kind and loyal. Not like Zuko.

Toph once asked her if she was doing this to project her feelings about Zuko to her children. They did avoid their father. But she didn't tell or hint that they should. She sometimes wondered if she was trying to mold them into Zuko when he was good. If she couldn't change Zuko, she could change her children.

She hadn't written her friends in a while, and she supposed it was her fault for letting the lines of communication die out. If they came to the palace or the Royal Couple was summoned to attend a meeting outside of the Palace, she usually hid after the meetings and only retained her "Fire Lady" personality in public. She ignored rumors, but she heard them all. Sokka had once asked her about a particularly nasty one, that she had miscarried after a horrific beating from her "husband."

"Sokka, leave it." she answered, standing up and scoooping up Arya, who was yanking the flowers out of the Earth King's garden.

She felt pain when Zuko sent the children away to boarding school once they were old enough. Her children were the anchors to life. But she thought sometimes it was good that they weren't home. Little Genji tried to stop Zuko from beating her again with his new Firebending abilities, but Zuko had turned the flame against him and hit him in the leg. She would then be more discreet when Zuko hit her, hiding the bruises and burns with long sleeves and skirts. Powdering her face was common enough. She tried to act happy in front of her children, but she knew that she wasn't doing a good job.

But, yes. She would raise them long enough to be grown up to challenge their father. To be a good Fire Lord. Then she would end it.

But now...she had grown impatient. She yearned to be free of his chains. Bitterness that wedges into her heart like a seed forced into dry soil. She imagined Zuko's pale face turning blue; how ironic, she had thought darkly when he was taking her in a drunken romp.

* * *

><p>"My lady." Katara ignored the midwife, waiting for the heavy footsteps to clamor onto the marble floor outside. "My lady."<p>

Katara finally looked at her. The Fire Lord had left the room, so she reached out for the struggling bundle in red wordlessly.

"Congratulations, my lady. It is a healthy baby boy."

Katara smoothed the black, curly hair from the baby's head. He was already crying bitterly at being torn from his warm nest, trying to break free of the swaddled blanket. Katara traced a birthmark, a small mole under his left eye, and wondered at his fierceness. Did he know the world he was born into? Will he be a bender? Not for the first time, she wondered why a newborn's face could affect her so much, but she saw something odd in his face, his eyes, almost like a preminition. A gray mask of anger...

"What shall I put on the birth certificate, my lady?"

Katara put the child's insistent mouth to her breast and watched as he greedily devoured the nourishment that fell on his tongue.

"Amon, miss. Amon will do fine."


End file.
